Chinese Mining in the Snake River Canyon of Southern Idaho

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In the autumn of 1870 Euroamerican miners in the Snake River Canyon lifted their prohibition of 'Chinese emigration' enacted the previous May at the Shoshone Falls. Historic accounts suggest the easily accessible river bar deposits were playing out, and as one miner noted, “The Chinese are better adapted to this sort of mining”. While most Chinese initially worked as laborers, claims were eventually being ‘bargained and sold’. One claim in particular was transferred from Relf Bledsoe to Ah Mon Mong and Tung Tock Tong in November 1871. The influx of Chinese during this time coincided with the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. In the fall of 2023, Cannon Heritage Consultants received a grant from the Twin Falls Historic Preservation Commission to begin survey work in the Canyon towards developing a National Register District Nomination. This paper will discuss the results of the initial phase of the survey in the context of the Chinese diaspora.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 40180.0